REPORT:Poole v Workington

SGB Cab Direct Championship newcomers, Workington arrived at Wimborne Road fresh from an away win at Plymouth the night before, a result that took them to the top of the table and one that was delivered largely due to some solid trapping from the Cumbrian side.

But it was the Pirates who proved to be the sharpest away and quickly accumulated a ten point lead, with the Comets hampered in heat three when Claus Vissing, a first bend faller, failed to make the two-minute time allowance in the re-start. It meant two on the trot for history-maker Celina Liebmann, the first female rider in senior league action. She had finished second in heat two, after Max Perry had been disqualified when trying to dive under Sam McGurk on the fourth turn, but her second outing was less fruitful with Zach Cook and Tom Brennan dominating at the first turn in the re-started heat three. Ben Cook then did well to get by Troy Batchelor in heat four and with Perry this time getting the better of McGurk, the Pirates moved into a 17-7 advantage.
Brennan was sublime in heat five as he made a move on both Tate Zischke and Craig Cook, - the Comets number one having been unbeaten at Plymouth but unable to impress at Wimborne Road. Batchelor and Richard Lawson traded places in heat six before the ex-Pirate prevailed and if the Comets' fans had thought there side had stemmed the tide, they were in for a rude awakening as Ben Cook was joined at the front by the hard working Sam Hagon who had made a good first arc from gate four to round both track debutant Antti Vuolas and the experienced Vissing. Heat eight produces a sharp gate by Hagon (replacing Perry) and as Zischke tried to move him over it opened up a channel for Tobias Thomsen to dive into and give Poole a 5-1, one that was celebrated with a "Danish donut delight".

With the Pirates leading by eighteen points the onslaught was relentless as Brennan and Zach Cook both made decent starts and left Batchelor failing to come up with any response. Lawson lined-up Vissing perfectly in his sights down the back straight of heat ten and never looked back. His partner Thomsen appeared tempted to follow suit, but missed his opportunity and had to settle for just beating Vuolas and giving Poole another heat gain, 4-2 for a 42-18 lead. Craig Cook made definite movement at the start of heat eleven but only served to punish himself, running in a last place on the wrong end of a Hagon/Ben Cook 5-1 which made the outcome of the meeting an absolute certainty. With Workington using Batchelor as a tactical substitute they were able to claim their single heat advantage of the meeting, but it wasn't an easy ride for Batchelor as Brennan had 'big threat' written all over him, Vuolas finishing third.

Lawson was away and gone in heat thirteen but there was a lot of racing to come as Ben Cook came from the back to pass Craig Cook and then set about the prey that was Batchelor and the heat culminated in a very close finish between them, but Batchelor just holding out. Zach Cook was in all the action of heat fourteen as he and Vissing swapped places over the first lap, the Dane leading until the flag came out when Zach managed to sneak through and steal the win, all the while Hagon was battling to avoid running into the fence on the first lap, but recovered sufficiently to secure third place, some distance ahead of Liebmann.

Brennan brought the meeting to a close with a great ride in heat fifteen to get by Batchelor with Lawson beaten for a second time by the Comets only reliable performer on the night.

POOLE 61
Richard Lawson 2',2,3,3,1=11+1 (5)
Tobias Thomsen 3,1',2',1=7+2 (4)
Tom Brennan 2',3,3,2,3=13+1 (5)
Zach Cook 3,0,2',3=8+1 (4)
Ben Cook 3,3,2',1=9+1 (4)
Sam Hagon 3,2',3,3,1=12+1 (5)
Max Perry FD,1,RS,0=1 (3)
.
WORKINGTON 29
Craig Cook 0,1',0,0=1+1 (4)
Tate Zischke 1,2,1,1,0=5 (5)
Antti Vuolas 1,1,0,1=3 (4)
Claus Vissing N2,R,2,2=4 (3)
Troy Batchelor 2,3,1,3,2,2=13 (6)
Celina Liebmann 2,0,RS,0,RS,TS,0=2 (4)
Sam McGurk 1',0,0,RS,0,RS=1+1 (4)
.
Ht 1: T.Thomsen, R.Lawson, T.Zischke, C.Cook 5-1 5-1 [59.03]
Ht 2: S.Hagon, C.Liebmann, S.McGurk, M.Perry [fell exc] 3-3 8-4 [59.75]
Ht 3: Z.Cook, T.Brennan, A.Vuolas, C.Liebmann 5-1 13-5 [59.03]
Ht 4: B.Cook, T.Batchelor, M.Perry, S.McGurk 4-2 17-7 [58.97]
Ht 5: T.Brennan, T.Zischke, C.Cook, Z.Cook 3-3 20-10 [58.65]
Ht 6: T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, T.Thomsen, S.McGurk 3-3 23-13 [60]
Ht 7: B.Cook, S.Hagon, A.Vuolas, C.Vissing [rtd] 5-1 28-14 [59.72]
Ht 8: S.Hagon, T.Thomsen, T.Zischke, C.Liebmann 5-1 33-15 [59.96]
Ht 9: T.Brennan, Z.Cook, T.Batchelor, S.McGurk 5-1 38-16 [59.41]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, C.Vissing, T.Thomsen, A.Vuolas 4-2 42-18 [60.28]
Ht 11: S.Hagon, B.Cook, T.Zischke, C.Cook 5-1 47-19 [60]
Ht 12: T.Batchelor, T.Brennan, A.Vuolas, M.Perry, C.Liebmann [Tac Subbed] 2-4 49-23 [60.93]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, T.Batchelor, B.Cook, C.Cook 4-2 53-25 [59.81]
Ht 14: Z.Cook, C.Vissing, S.Hagon, C.Liebmann 4-2 57-27 [61.46]
Ht 15: T.Brennan, T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, T.Zischke 4-2 61-29 [60.56]

SCB Referee Paul Carrington
POOLE won toss and chose gates 1&3 | WORKINGTON choose gates 1&3 in heat 15
League Points: POOLE 2 WORKINGTON 0

Meeting reaction here

Photo credits Anthony Burchall